Leadership Leadership Chapter 2 - Trait Approach
Dec 30, 2015
OverviewOverview Great Person Theories Historical Shifts in Trait Perspective What Traits Differentiate Leaders From Nonleaders? How Does the Trait Approach Work?
Great Person TheoriesGreat Person Theories
“Great Man” Theories (early 1900s)◦Focused on identifying
inate qualities and characteristics possessed by great social, political, & military leaders
Trait Approach: one of the first systematicattempts to study leadership
Great ManTheories
Early 1900s
•Research focused on individual characteristics that universally differentiated leaders from nonleaders
Traits Interacting With Situational
Demands on Leaders
1930-50s
• Landmark Stogdill (1948) study - analyzed and synthesized 124 trait studies - Leadership reconceptualized as a relationship between people in a social situation
• Mann (1959) reviewed 1,400 findings of personality and leadership in small groups - Less emphasis on situations - Suggested personality traits could be used to discriminate leaders from nonleaders
Revival of Critical Role of Traits in LeaderEffectiveness
• Stogdill (1974) - Analyzed 163 new studies with 1948 study findings - Validated original study - 10 characteristics positively identified with leadership
• Lord, DeVader, & Alliger (1986) meta-analysis - Personality traits can be used to differentiate leaders/nonleaders
• Kirkpatrick & Locke (1991) - 6 traits make up the “Right Stuff” for leaders
Historical Shifts in Trait PerspectiveHistorical Shifts in Trait Perspective1970’s - Early 90s
Innate Qualities
Situations
Personality / Behaviors
Today
• Intelligence• Self-Confidence• Determination• Integrity• Sociability
5 MajorLeadership
Traits
Major Leadership TraitsMajor Leadership Traits
Intelligence – Intellectual ability including verbal, perceptual, and reasoning capabilities
Self-Confidence – Ability to be certain about one’s competencies and skills
Determination – The desire to get the job done (i.e., initiative, persistence, dominance, drive)
Traits to possess or cultivate if one seeks to be perceived by others as a leader:
Major Leadership TraitsMajor Leadership Traits
Integrity – The quality of honesty and trustworthiness
Sociability – Leader’s inclination to seek out pleasant social relationships
Traits to possess or cultivate if one seeks to be perceived by others as a leader:
Big Five Personality Factors
5-Factor Personality Model 5-Factor Personality Model & Leadership & Leadership
5-Factor Personality Model & Leadership5-Factor Personality Model & Leadership
Results – a strong relationship between personality traits and leadership
Extraversion – factor most strongly associated with leadership◦ Most important trait of effective leaders
Conscientiousness – 2nd most related factor Neuroticism & Openness – next most related
◦ Neuroticism negatively associated to leadership Agreeableness – only weakly related to
leadership
Big Five & Leadership
Study using meta-analysis (Judge et al, 2002)
Emotional Intelligence Emotional Intelligence & Leadership & Leadership
people who are more sensitive to their emotions & their impact on others will be more effective leaders
Underlying Premise Definition Ability to perceive and:
– apply emotions to life’s tasks
– reason/understand emotions
– express emotions– use emotions to
facilitate thinking– manage emotions
within oneself & relationships
How Does the Trait How Does the Trait Approach Work?Approach Work?
Focus of Trait Approach Strengths Criticisms Application
Focus of Trait ApproachFocus of Trait Approach
Focuses exclusively on leader◦What traits leaders exhibit
◦Who has these traits
Organizations use personality assessments to find “Right” people◦Assumption - will increase
organizational effectiveness◦Specify characteristics/traits
for specific positions Personality assessment
measures for “fit” Instruments: LTQ, Myers
Briggs
LeaderLeader PersonalityAssessmentsPersonality
Assessments
StrengthsStrengthsIntuitively appealing
◦Perception that leaders are different in that they possess special traits
◦People “need” to view leaders as gifted
Credibility due to a century of research support
Highlights leadership component in the leadership process◦Deeper level
understanding of how leader/personality related to leadership process
Provides benchmarks for what to look for in a leader
CriticismsCriticisms
Fails to delimit a definitive list of leadership traits◦ Endless lists have
emerged
Doesn’t take into account situational effects◦ Leaders in one
situation may not be leaders in another situation
List of most important leadership traits is highly subjective◦ Much subjective experience
& observations serve as basis for identified leadership traits
Research fails to look at traits in relationship to leadership outcomes
Not useful for training & development
ApplicationApplication
Provides direction as to which traits are good to have if one aspires to a leadership position
Through various tests and questionnaires, individuals can determine whether they have the select leadership traits and can pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses
Can be used by managers to assess where they stand within their organization and what is needed to strengthen their position
Leadership Leadership TraitsTraits• IntelligenceIntelligence• Self-ConfidenceSelf-Confidence• DeterminationDetermination• IntegrityIntegrity• SociabilitySociability
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The Romance of LeadershipThe Romance of Leadership
Chicken or Egg…Good leadership, or good performance?
What factors go in to corporate performance?
How much of a company’s success should be attributed to the CEO?
How much IS attributed to the CEO?
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The Romance of LeadershipThe Romance of LeadershipA Famous Philosopher Once Said: “Quarterbacks
get more credit than they deserve but they get more blame than they deserve too.”
(Peyton Manning after winning the Super Bowl over the Chicago Bears)
How does this effect the trait approach to leadership?
Romantic Attributions◦In love: no flaws◦After Break up: many flaws
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Implicit Leadership TheoriesImplicit Leadership Theories
Take a moment and think about the ideal/perfect/prototype leader. Get a picture of this leader in your mind.
Describe this leaderThis is your implicit leadership theoryQuality of leadership will be judged
according to this standard